reworddivisionaidsreading

[Benjamin C. W. Sittler]

On Sun, 21 Feb 1999, Kragen Javier Sitaker wrote:

> IUNDERSTANDTHATTHECURRENTCONVE
> NTIONSOFSPACINGANDPUNCTUATIONA
> ROSEONLYAFTERTHEYEAR700ACCORDI
> NGTOMYSOURCETHEYAROSEDURINGTHE
> EIGHTHCENTURYANDBECAMEPOPULARD
> URINGTHEELEVENTHORTWELFTHCENTU
> RYPRIORTOTHATTHELETTERSOFTHEVA
> RIOUSWORDSWERECRAMMEDTOGETHERT
> HEREADERHADTOINFERWHICHONESBEL
> ONGEDTOTHESAMEWORDANDWHICHWORD
> SBELONGEDTOTHESAMESENTENCEEACH
> LINEHADTHIRTYCHARACTERSANDEACH
> PAGEHADSIXTYLINESTHEWEBPAGETHA
> TTOLDMETHATHTTPCOLONSLASHSLASH
> WWWDOTUKANSDOTEDUSLASHTILDEBOO
> KHISTSLASHMEDBOOK1DOTHTMLSUGGE
> STSTHATWORDDIVISIONENABLEDSILE
> NTREADINGWHICHENABLEDMUCHLONGE
> RESSAYSTOBEREADINAREASONABLEAM
> OUNTOFTIMEWHICHCHANGEDTHESTRUC
> TUREOFEUROPESINTELLECTUALLIFEI
> WOULDGUESSTHATCHINESEDIDNOTHAV
> EQUITETHISSAMEPROBLEMSINCEATLE
> ASTMORPHEMESANDUSUALLYWHOLEWOR
> DSWEREWRITTENASSINGLECHARACTER
> SANDIWONDERIFTHISHADANYTHINGTO
> DOWITHCHINASEARLIERSCIENTIFICM
> ATURITYALTHOUGHOFCOURSEPLATOAN
> DCICEROHADNOWORDDIVISIONTOAIDT
> HEMIAMIGNORANTOFTHESCRIPTSOFIN
> DIABUTIAMCURIOUSWHETHERANCIENT
> SANSKRITHASWORDDIVISIONANDPUNC
> TUATIONIWONDERIFFURTHERBREAKTH
> ROUGHSINMAKINGLARGECOMPLEXBODI
> ESOFKNOWLEDGEMOREACCESSIBLECOU
> LDCHANGEOURCURRENTSOCIETYOBVIO
> USLYENGELBARTTHINKSSOIAMGIVENT
> OUNDERSTANDTHATSTAUGUSTINEWHOL
> IVEDCENTURIESBEFOREEUROPEANWOR
> DDIVISIONBECAMECOMMONPLACEWASC
> ONSIDEREDTHESMARTESTMANINTHEWO
> RLDBECAUSEHECOULDREADWITHOUTMO
> VINGHISLIPSTHISFEATISCONSIDERA
> BLYMOREIMPRESSIVENOWTHATIKNOWA
> BOUTTHEEVOLUTIONOFWORDDIVISION
> BUTBACKTOTHEPOINTATHANDPLEASET
> ELLMEDIDYOUHAVETOREADTHISOUTLO
> UDINORDERTOUNDERSTANDITIDID

 ______     oididnothavetomove
  | | \ \   mylipstounderstand
  | |   \|  thismessagepartoft
 _|_|_  /_  hereasonmaybethati
            wroteadiaryforsome
timewhichhadnoworddivisionsitw
askeptinlowercaselettershoweve
rwhichseemstoimprovereadabilit
yabitinmymanyyearsofplayingwit
hvariousfontsandwritingstylesi
havelearnedthatourmodernlowerc
aseisdescendedfromthesimplerea
dablescriptendorsedbycarolusma
gnusdescendersascendersandvari
ablewidthsofletterslendthemsel
vestoquickcharacterrecognition
andinturnquickwordrecognitionw
hichisuspectisthetechniqueempl
oyedbystaugustinealthoughhemay
havesoundedoutwordswithoutmovi
nghislipsatechniquewhichiusedw
hilereadingkragensmessageforyo
urinformationcarolusmagnushasb
eenvariouslyknownaskarlgrossea
ndcharlemagneandgavehisnametot
heempireandperiodknownnowasthe
carolingianhemanagedtounitemuc
hofwesterneuropeinwhatmanysawa
sanewromanempirebutitdidnotlas
tlongafterhisdemiseanyhowyoupr
obablyknewthatalreadynotethatm
anyoftheshortcutsofmodernwriti
ngsuchascontractionsacronymsan
dmanyabbreviationsareentirelyi
mpractivalwithoutinterwordspac
ingfurthermorenumbersatthattim
ewereoftheromanvarietyconsisti
ngofthelettersivxlcdandmandwer
ethereforeindistinguishablefro
mthesurroundingwordswithoutcar
efullyanalyzingtheircontextfur
thermorethepracticeofshortenin
gromannumbersthroughthesocalle
dsubtractionruleidestivrathert
haniiiiapparantlydidnotcomeint
ostyleuntilthexxiorxxiicentury
thatissometimeaftertheyearmthe
reisonebrightsidetononspacedwo
rdshowevertheygivethegraphicde
signermuchmorefreedominthelayo
utofapagesincealinemaybesplita
tanypointnotjustbetweenwordsat
leastonephoneticwritingsystems
tillinusedoesnotemploywordspac
ingorpunctuationotherthananocc
asionalquestionmarkthejapanese
hiraganacharacterseachofwhichr
epresentsasinglevowelpossiblyp
recededbyaconsonantalsoundorwh
ichrepresentstheconsonantnsoun

    /\        hasbeenwrittenfo
     \ \      rseveralhundredy
     /|\ \    earswithoutspace
    | | | |   salthoughitisusu
     \_\|/    allycombinedwith
              modifiedformsofc
hinesecharctersknownaskanjithe
hiraganawasinformertimesusedex
clusivelytowritethejapaneselan
guagebythosewhodidnotknowchine
sethemodernadmixtureofhiragana
withkanjiprovidesenoughcontext
ualdisambiguitythattheneedforw
ordspaceshasneverbeenstronglye
noughfeltinjapantomakethepract
icewidespreadanyhowiforoneamqu
tepleasedbythewidespreadadopti
onofinterwordspacingforenglish